Decks and rails on a 117 year old sailing ship

17 years ago

I'm not quite sure if our117 year old historical vessel's decks qualify as home decking but she is our home and taking care of her keeps us hoping. The problem is in replacing varnish for the rails and other areas of natural wood. We live in the tropics ( Bali at the moment) and the sun just eats through most coatings. The best we found so far is a South African product called Rystix that has lasted almost 6 years now. Sadly it is not exported. We need something that has a lot of flexibility. High UV resistance. And is easy to apply and maintain. As a historical vessel we like to have that natural healthy look to our wood surfaces but varnish just doesn't do it. Does anyone have suggestions for a wood coating that breathes well and maintains the natural wood color for years at a go in the tropical sun?

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Comments (7)

pressurepros
17 years ago
If you found something that holds up that long under those types of conditions I'd sure love to get my hands on it.
brickeyee
17 years ago
Spar varnish (a long oil type varnish) remains about the best thing for brightwork on boats.
It reamins soft enough to move as the wood changes shape and size, while being easily applied and repaired.
A quick steel wool scuff and another layer goes on.
Newer formulas have added more UV resistant resins, and a well applied job should last at least 6-10 years between strippings with a topcoat every 2-3 years.
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vegabonds
Original Author
17 years ago
Well first the stuff we used in 2001 is from a company called Rystix in South Africa. We found them when we were in Durban after rounding the cape. Their products are first class and have suffered through cyclones at sea and still look great. It's just that for some obsecure reason we cannot get them to export us more of the stuff so have to go shopping again. Believe me there isn't mush we wouldn't trade for a 20 liter tin of that stuff.

As to normal varnish ( including Epiphine and the other painfully expensive ones they just do not last more than about 8 months at best. And yes we carefully prep the surfaces and apply 8 good coats of the stuff sanding between every bl**dy one of them. Was hoping someone might know of another product simular to the Rystix that we could use. They have a web site if anyone is interested.
norman_2006
17 years ago
Dear "Vegabonds",

I have found your post on the gardenweb site following my own research on the "Rystix" product.

I would like to know if you have found your tin of Rystix yet?

If there is a market for this product in your community and Rystix does not want to export, I could possibly play the role as the exporter on your behalf. I live in Cape Town South Africa and I see that there could be an oppertunity here.

Would you be interested in discussing?

Regards

Norman
brickeyee
17 years ago
"As to normal varnish..."

What kind is "normal varnish"?
Varnishes come in a number of flavors based on solvent.
Within the oikl based varnishes the two major classes are long oikl and short oil.
Long oil varnish (spar varnish is of this type) stay relatively soft and flex with the surface they are on.
Short oil varnishes dry harder, but the penalty is they then crack with wood movement, moisture penetrates, and teh finish quickly fails.
Any old ship originally had the finished wood coated with spar varnish. That is how it gots it name.
You do not want a hard finish varnish in this environment.
The soft (almost gummy) finish from long oil varnish has the best chance of staying attached.
using 8 coats would also indiacte there is way too much solvent in whatever you used. Eight coats of sapr varnish would probably pile up at least 1/16 of aninch thick, and tehn fail from being too thick. Thicker is not always better.
john_hyatt
17 years ago
Yo Ken,,I am thinking Norman is a good guy to get in contact with no telling what we could learn from this Rystix stuff Those ol Boys have been at it from the begining. Norman Im intersted talk to me!!! 6 years at sea!!! I am deffently in. John
robbieo10
15 years ago
Hi vegabonds,
Did you use the oil based Exterior Sealer or the water based Armadek?
Regards
Rob

Decks and rails on a 117 year old sailing ship

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Decks and rails on a 117 year old sailing ship

Comments (7)

pressurepros

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vegabondsOriginal Author

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